How to use insulin pumps in children and travel?

It is recommended that a series of recommendations be followed in diabetic children who use insulin pumps during trips, to make good use of them and reduce the risk of hypoglycemia and other setbacks, as stated by the Diabetes Foundation.

"Thanks to insulin pumps, disease handling is easier when trips are made, irregular food schedules are maintained or time spindle changes occur, since it provides flexibility and adjustments can be made quickly,"He explained the pediatric diabetes advisor of the Diabetes Foundation, Roque Cardona Hernández.

Therefore, it is essential that this technology works and follow a series of guidelines to avoid unnecessary risks during this summer.In this sense, it is advisable to plan the trip in advance and organize the necessary material in the luggage, leaving insulin and the Glocagon in the hand suitcase.

If you travel by plane, you have to have a report of health professionals on hand in which the diagnosis of diabetes and the treatment used to avoid controls at the airport is recorded.

If trips are made to places with hourly difference, it is advisable to change the time of the insulin pump when reaching the destination if the basal rhythms and insulin and carbohydrate rates are similar throughout the day.If on the contrary there are different ranges, another possibility is to change the pump time gradually from four hours before the plane outlet and during the flight to matching it with the time of destination at the time of arrival.

"On the other hand, if the time difference is important, the suggestion is to change the time of the insulin pump gradually from several days of making the trip and concluding the adjustment several days after the arrival," explained the advisor of theDiabetes Foundation.

insulin pump disconnections

It is recommended to make a disconnection of the punctual apparatus when the child has plan to bathe on the beach or the pool to make sure the device does not deteriorate.In addition, it is essential to provide strategies in the administration of insulin and consult with the doctor before traveling.

"If the disconnection is less than four hours, fast -acting insulin should be provided by a pen or syringe to replace the basal insulin infusion that would have to enter that time with the pump. This can also be done when the disconnections areover four hours, supplying fast -acting insulin injections repeatedly every three and four hours, "said the foundation advisor.

Although, it has continued, there are people who prefer to cover the period without a pump by regular insulin with an injection two hours before the pump is removed, although in this case the disconnection should not be greater than four and six hours.In the event that insulin pump disconnection is exceeding 24 hours, the recommendations focus on managing a basal insulin type once a day or distributed in two doses.

"In any case, in these temporal disconnections it is convenient to monitor blood glucose frequently, since the possibilities of a hyperglycemia appearing to increase," recalled the doctor.In addition, it is also important to administer the necessary insulin during meals, since the pump catheter will remain in many cases more than two hours without insulin, so there is a high risk of obstructing.

Finally, it is advisable not to expose the pump directly to the sun and save it in a protected place when some disconnection is performed.If traveling at a temperature of more than 24 degrees it is necessary to use portable refrigerators or aCold bag that is not in direct contact with the ice to avoid its freezing.

Once the holiday destination has been reached, it is preferable to keep the insulin boats that are not used in a refrigerator at a temperature between two and ten degrees.

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